RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper has issued a stay-at-home order that takes effect Monday at 5 p.m. and is in effect for Bladen County and the entire state.
Cooper made the announcement at a coronavirus update press conference on Friday afternoon. The order has a broad definition of essential jobs that are exceptions and is in effect until April 29, or sooner if the governor rescinds the order.
Cooper said it is enforceable by lawmen. It “directs people to stay at home except to visit essential businesses, to exercise outdoors or to help a family member. Specifically, the order bans gatherings of more than 10 people and directs everyone to physically stay at least six feet apart from others,” a release from the governor’s office says.
North Carolina is the nation’s ninth-largest state with population of about 10.5 million.
The order is the fourth he has issued related to the pandemic. The governor said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled North Carolina with “widespread transmission, meaning some people don’t know how they got it. Because no one is immune and there’s no vaccination the best tool we have to slow the spread is keeping our physical distance and staying home.”
There are exceptions to the order, a long list of them (attached). Counties and municipalities may enact orders as well.
Violations of the order are a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Three North Carolinians have died because of coronavirus. Cooper said 763 cases have been identified in the state, including a combined 300-plus in Mecklenburg and Wake counties. They are in 60 counties. Bladen County has not announced any positive cases.
“As expected,” Cooper said, “our numbers continue to increase rapidly. This is a highly contagious virus that can be deadly for some.”
Cooper said more than 200,000 unemployment claims have been filed. The first related to COVID-19 will be paid early next week.
“Being apart from family and friends is difficult,” Cooper said. “The sounds of our lives — the school bell or the halftime buzzer — they’re gone. Losing your job or closing your business has to be painful. But we have to act now in the safest, smartest way when we have the chance to save lives.”
Cooper’s move was not unexpected. Earlier this week, he said more orders would be forthcoming. The North State Journal cited a source and published a report saying he would make the order about an hour before Friday afternoon’s press conference.
Mandy Cohen, the secretary leading the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said her office has already heard from health-care workers concerned about shortages of supplies, equipment and hospital beds.
“In Italy, 29 percent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 had severe or critical illness,” she said. “In China, it was 19 percent. Nobody wants that to happen. The only way to prevent it is if fewer people get sick at the same time — that’s what flattening the curve means. Our best weapon is social distancing.”
Mike Sprayberry, director of state Emergency Management, said Friday was the 18th day of State Emergency Operations Center being activated. Fifty-one counties have activated theirs as well, and 95 counties and one tribe have declared a State of Emergency.
Friday’s move by Cooper follows a shutdown of K-12 schools through May 15, restaurants and bars prohibited from dine-in service, and the closure of a number of businesses to include hair and nail salons, gyms and movie theaters. Unemployment numbers have historically risen.